braham Lincoln was one of the best Presidents of the United States of America. Remember that he was re-elected and was only assassinated that is why he was not able to continue functioning as the President for the next four years. Had he survived that assassination, maybe there would be more worthy quotations that will be coming from the great man, Abraham Lincoln.
Maybe it is alright to believe that Abraham Lincoln is a biblical man because, you see, almost 100 percent of all American presidents are Evangelicals and Protestants. Only one was a Catholic, and that was late President John F. Kennedy, who was also assassinated. If you are going to look far back at the history of the American people, almost all of their Presidents were born Baptists, Fundamentalists, Protestants, and more. They belong to that umbrella of the Evangelicals, but it is unfortunate that the quotation was said without thinking.
Although this statement came from one of the greatest presidents of America, this saying will not fit the biblical standards. Why the quotation says:
“If you want to test man’s character, give him power?”
Every man was given power by God. It is recorded in the book of Ecclesiastes. God gave every man power. You must not forget that man was made in the likeness and image of God. And one of the gifts given by God to men, after giving him his image and likeness, is power according to the book written by the wisest king that ever lived on earth, King Solomon. We can read this in
Ecclesiastes 5:19: it reads--
“Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.”
It is one of the gifts of God. The power to take his part, his portion, to rejoice in his labor, the power to eat from his wealth and the riches that was given to him by God and that is power. There is another proof that God gave man power and we can read this in
Ecclesiastes 9:10, which says--
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”
This is an admonition of God to every man. Therefore, as long as you are not in the grave yet, you have the power given to you by God to do the things that you have chosen to do, whether it is right or wrong. With power, you can choose to do things that are right, things that are good, and morally sound; but, if you choose to do the wrong thing, you also have the power to do that. The Christians are permitted by the Lord to be filthy, if they want to be filthy. Therefore you cannot be filthy without using the power to be one. The consummation of the judgment depends upon the power that is given to you by God. Otherwise, God will not have grounds in punishing man, had that man used his power in doing things against God’s will. In the book of
Revelation 22:11 the Alpha and Omega, which is our Lord Jesus Christ said--
“He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.”
Any man has the power. He has the might to be filthy or filthier, to be righteous and not to be righteous if he wishes to. Abraham Lincoln may be mistaken, when he said that “if you want to test a man’s character give him power”. Power is inherent in man. He was endowed with power, intelligence and mental faculties. Man has everything that he needs in order to survive in this hostile world. Even animals like carabaos have their power, even horses have their power. Therefore every man, weak as he maybe, was given power. Where does the mistake or error lies in this quotation of President Abraham Lincoln? There is a biblical teaching that teaches us: how a person’s character can be tested. That is recorded in
1 Corinthians 3:13: it reads--
“Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.”
To have a proof of man’s work, character, or personality, let the days declare it, according to the bible. It conforms to a Chinese proverb which says:
“Long distance reveals the strength of the horse.” That is true, because you cannot just say that a horse is strong if it could run only 1 kilometer, or a mile. But if you test the horse to run 10 or 20 miles you will be able to test how strong the horse is. What does this convey? Accordingly, it means that, time reveals the character of a man. It is not the power given to him that tells what kind of man he is, and what character he possessed. It is the time element that reveals the character of a man. After he has been tested by the biblical quotation that by fire, it shall be revealed, and the fire shall try every man’s work.
Let us clarify things about this quotation of Abraham Lincoln. If he means power, if Abraham Lincoln happens to think of power, other than any other power given by God to men, for example, the power of a President, probably because Lincoln was President then and was thinking of the power of a President, or probably the power of a Senator, the power of a king, the power of a ruler, a Governor, a General, then he is very wrong again. Because why give power to people, whom you do not know. Power is not given to people who are not capable of using that power because you are going to mislead the whole nation. In
Proverbs 26:1, we can read--
“As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest,”
You see, these are things which do not fit each other. Have you ever heard of a summer with snow? When you are in love, winter becomes summer but never a snow on a summer, why? Because snow is not expected in summer, the same with rain during harvest season. If you are harvesting, rain is not very good. Rain is needed before harvest but during harvest season rain is not needed. What does that mean? Let us continue reading the verse.
“As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool.”
It is not fit for a man to have honor or power if he is a fool. A fool in the Bible means a person who is ignorant, stupid, and a person who is not capable of having power. In fact, another verse in the Bible said in
Proverbs 30:21:, it reads--
“For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear:”
There are four things that earth cannot bear, what are these four things?
Proverbs 30:22-23--
“For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat; For an odious woman when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.”
Let us study the first one mentioned by Agur. There are four things that the earth cannot bear and it trembles for these four things: the first is when the servant reigns. Is it right for a janitor in Malacañan to assume the presidency? Of course not! Because there is the Vice-President, so it is alright that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumes the presidency because she was then the vice-president of the land. But if you remove former President Joseph Estrada from the presidency, and put there a gardener in Malacañan, then earth will tremble because of that.
